Myla (left) and Cecil at HKIA |
On Sunday, Sept 18, women’s team Philippine Sluggers will
return to the pitch savoring the glory of playing again in A bracket of Hong Kong ’s annual baseball league season.
But the team will be missing one buddy, Myla Someros, a
founding member who went home for good on April 13, ending 14 years of working
in the SAR and eight years of playing for the side.
One of her friends said she had myeloma, or cancer of the blood caused by a shortage of red blood cells. Other sources said she had pneumonia
One of her friends said she had myeloma, or cancer of the blood caused by a shortage of red blood cells. Other sources said she had pneumonia
The 47-year-old Someros, a single mother to an 11-year-old
daughter, left Hong Kong quietly that Wednesday night escorted by her best
friend, team founder and president Cecil Calsas, who turned over the ailing OFW
to her family in San Enrique, Iloilo .
“I miss her because I consider her my family. Nakakalungkot na umuwi siya dahil sa
karamdaman,” Calsas told The SUN in an online interview, reminiscing the
night they flew home. They were seen off by Assistant Labor Attache Henry
Tianero for their early morning flight to Iloilo City .
Calsas recalled how Someros was almost barred from boarding
the plane by health screeners at HKIA because she was running a fever, but the
Sluggers leader said she was able to talk their way through. Then they went
through the hurdle at NAIA and passed.
Calsas said the former player was too weak to walk about in
the Hong Kong International Airport
terminal and had to use a wheelchair. She did so, too, when she changed plane
in Manila and when she disembarked in Iloilo .
A staff from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration
office was at Iloilo
Airport to assist Someros
through the airport processes upon her arrival with Calsas
Back home, there’s a more serious hurdle that Someros must
surmount: the reality of being penniless, as she has not received any financial
help from the government, including OWWA.
“Nakakalungkot kapag
naiisip ko po siya. Walang pinansiyal na tulong ang OWWA sa pagkakaalam ko.
Parang pormalidad lang ang OWWA, dapat alisin na lang at i-refund ang
contribution ng mga tao,” Calsas said.
OWWA is an insurance system that grants financial aid to
OFWs who suffer permanent disability or dismemberment in work-related accidents
or die of natural and accidental causes, but gives no cash benefits to
seriously sick members.
A ray of hope is offered by a memorandum of agreement between
OWWA and PhilHealth that offers a new medical aid to OFW members who are
diagnosed with ailments that require hospitalization and long-term care.
MEDplus, which will be implemented starting this September, will
match the benefit that PhilHealth grants to its members under its case rate
system up to a maximum of Php50,000.
Myla with fellow Sluggers during happier times |
According to welfare officer Lorna Obedoza, Someros will be
eligible for the new medical aid, as she is an affiliate member until Nov 2016.
Someros belonged to a team of intrepid and talented domestic
helpers who have opted to go to the diamond on Sundays to run, swing bats, catch
balls, and dive on the pitch in practice or real play.
In the early days of Sluggers, she was a mainstay of the
team along with Calsas and other original players who have since left